Fusionism in North Carolina

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From 1894 to 1900 the North Carolina Republican Party and the Populist Party collaborated via electoral fusion to compete against the North Carolina Democratic Party. This political coalition was dubbed Fusionism.

Background[]

After years of growing debt and diminished returns on crops, farmers in North Carolina founded their own chapter of the Farmers' Alliance in 1887. The body lobbied for increased regulation of railroads, uniform interest rates, and additional reforms aimed at ameliorating the agricultural economy.[1] Some leading North Carolina Republicans, such as Daniel L. Russell and John James Mott, endorsed Alliance proposals to create a commission to oversee the railroads, but such efforts had been rejected by Democratic leaders. In an 1899 article in the Raleigh Signal, an anonymous correspondent suggested that Republican and Alliance members join together to break the Democrats' dominance of state institutions.[2] By 1892, Alliance members had fully broken from the Democratic Party in North Carolina and established their own chapter of the Populist Party.[3]

During the 1892 statewide elections in North Carolina, many Republicans urged cooperation with Populists. Party leaders eventually rejected this as a strategy, but a handful of Republicans and Populists agreed to jointly support municipal candidates.[4] In 1893 the Democrat-dominated General Assembly placed restrictions on the Farmers' Alliance's charter, infuriating its members and increasing their willingness to cooperate with Republicans.[5]

1894 election and rise to prominence[]

In 1894 Republican and Populist leaders in North Carolina agreed to support one another. Methods differed, but sometimes the two parties chose candidates jointly and other times they agreed to support the candidate nominated by one of the parties. Their Democratic opponents dubbed this process "Fusionism".[4]

Demise[]

In 1900 the Democratic Party soundly defeated the Republicans and Populists in the statewide elections, leading to the dissolution of the Populist Party in the state and greatly weakening the Republican Party.[4]

References[]

  1. ^ Crow & Durden 1977, p. 45.
  2. ^ Crow & Durden 1977, pp. 45–46.
  3. ^ Crow & Durden 1977, p. 46.
  4. ^ a b c Hunt, James L. (2006). "Fusion of Republicans and Populists". NCPedia. North Carolina Government & Heritage Library. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  5. ^ Crow & Durden 1977, p. 48.

Works cited[]

  • Crow, Jeffrey J.; Durden, Robert F. (1977). Maverick Republican in the Old North State : A Political Biography of Daniel L. Russell. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 9780807102916.
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